Separate Schools?

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Brendan Wrote:

I'm not sure but I have a Danish friend who I will ask about it tomorrow.

I've been waiting for the answer for 2 months now.(6)

What DID your Danish friend say Brendan(?)

[????]

The irony that we've been putting too many people who shouldn't have gone through university through it to service our "knowledge" economy just as the whole kaboodle collapses and what we need to pull us our economic catastrophe are some good old fashioned technichal, engineering and *hush words* manufacturing skills hasn't escaped an old cynic such as myself..

[Tony.London Suburbs]

???? Wrote:

what we need to pull us our economic catastrophe are some good old fashioned technichal, engineering and *hush words*

manufacturing skills hasn't escaped an old cynic such as myself..

They are still around Quidsy!..trouble is they are around Sydney,Australia.....Houston,Texas...Toronto,Canada and Wellington,New Zealand.

We have lost 5.5 Million Brits who have emigrated in the last 10 years and,by definition,many of these Guys will be skilled so as to pass the (relatively) stringent criteria to be allowed to emigrate to those Countries in the first place....

[Huguenot]

Nah, globally the average % of populations working in industry is 32%. We have 23.6%, whereas a heavily industrialised country such as China has 48.6%

Australia has 26.4%, Canada has 28.8%, conversely the US has 19.8%.

Manufacturing generally employs disempowered gophers, not engineers. One engineer can design a machine for 10,000 factories that are made and operated by plebs. Manufacturing delivers efficiencies through proximity to resources or slave labour. In the UK we have neither and so we can't compete.

However, service companies trade on intellectual property, ingenuity and process - at which the Brits are very good. It doesn't need to be close to market, so wehave no increased costs from distance.

Expats like me leave because the UK is populated my miserable gits, it's a shoddy climate and there's too much competition. Not that I don't love you all of course.

By far the overriding influence is the first. We pour scorn on success and whinge tirelessly about our failings. We have no national identity because we have no aspirational values. We don't know our strengths because we lack the imagination to put ourselves in someone else's shoes. We deride our public servants whilst sitting on our fat arses in front of the telly.

I mean, for crissakes, we're scared of our own children.

These are fundamentals, if we get these right then the schools, the hospitals will follow without legislation. Because we're too lazy to do that, we ask the government to provide laws. Pathetic.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Huguenot Wrote:

Expats like me leave because the UK is populated by miserable gits,.....

By far the overriding influence is the first. We pour scorn on success and whinge tirelessly about our failings. We have no national identity because we have no aspirational values. We don't know our strengths because we lack the imagination to put ourselves in someone else's shoes. We deride our public servants whilst sitting on our fat arses in front of the telly. I mean, for crissakes, we're scared of our own children.

These are fundamentals, if we get these right then the schools, the hospitals will follow without legislation. Because we're too lazy to do that, we ask the government to provide laws. Pathetic.

Well,at least,no-one can accuse you of that Huguenot!:)

[KalamityKel]

Speak for yourself Tony :-|

[Huguenot]

;-)

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I reserve my right to whinge about the England cricket team.

[Jeremy]

Technical and engineering skills - yes, definitey (but these surely require degree level eductation?)

Manufacturing - no, because we can't compete, as Huguenot said.

[macroban]

All girl schools were not much fun.

If I ran the local education authority I would change the intake rules.

One year all girls. Next year all boys.

[????]

ok, more Media Studies at Bournemouth University it is

[Brendan]

Huguenot Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Nah, globally the average % of populations working

> in industry is 32%. We have 23.6%, whereas a

> heavily industrialised country such as China has

> 48.6%

>

> Australia has 26.4%, Canada has 28.8%, conversely

> the US has 19.8%.

What about mining and agriculture?

[Huguenot]

I don't have separate mining figures, I guess they're part of industry.

The percentage of population working in the agricultural industry as follows:

UK 1.4%

Australia 3.6%

Canada 2%

South Africa 9%

US 0.6%

China 43%

India 60%

[lozzyloz]

What about defence?

[Huguenot]

Well, I can't see what percentage of population are working in the armed forces, but as a % of total GDP defence spending is estimated as follows;

UK 2.4%

Australia 2.4%

Canada 1.1%

South Africa 1.7%

US 4.1%

China 4.3%

India 2.5%

Just coz it's military, I though I'd add...

Russia 3.9%

Interesting that it's the three 'superpowers' that spend the most on the military, almost as if their size has made them more, not less paranoid.

However, since this thread is about Education, percentage of GDP spent on education...

UK 5.6%

Australia 4.5%

Canada 5.2%

South Africa 5.4%

US 5.3%

China 1.9%

India 3.2%

Russia 3.8%

So we certainly care enough about our kiddies to pay for their education.

Some high performing countries in education do spend a little more - Finland 6.4%. However other top scorers such as Japan and Singapore spend siginficantly less: 3.5% and 3.7% respectively. It only goes to show that throwing cash at a problem isn't the solution.

[david_carnell]

Except in Finland. So investing large sums isn't always the answer.

I quite like macroban's idea of mixed schools but single sex alternate years. The bureaucracy involved might intially be tricky but it might solve the traditional dilemmas of educational attainment and social integration.

I think to come out of an all-boys school after 7 years and be anything less than a social leper around woman is a good achievement. Those without sisters would struggle even more I would offer.

[Brendan]

Don?t be so sure David. I went to a mixed school and at 28 I could still do little more than blush, giggle and scuff my shoe across the flaw when speaking to women.

[david_carnell]

So your current image of international playboy is a mere facade?

[Brendan]

It?s that Hugh Heffner mask I wore to the last drinks isn?t it?